


Sometimes the Caretaker Needs to be Taken Care of

by WatermelonWorms



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Angst and Humor, Asexual Sugawara Koushi, Asexual Tanaka Ryuunosuke, Attempt at Humor, Background Relationships, Coming Out, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sad Sugawara Koushi, Sawamura Daichi is a Good Significant Other, Secret Relationship, Sugawara Koushi-centric, Team Parents Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Team as Family, feral suga
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:55:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28331232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WatermelonWorms/pseuds/WatermelonWorms
Summary: Suga was always the one to help the team when they needed it. Whether it be about volleyball, schoolwork, or something else, he was always there. What happens when the team overhear a conversation they shouldn't have? Of course, they want to help Suga in any way they can, but they aren't the greatest at making secret plans.
Relationships: Azumane Asahi & Sawamura Daichi & Shimizu Kiyoko & Sugawara Koushi, Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Shimizu Kiyoko/Tanaka Ryuunosuke, Sugawara Koushi & Karasuno Volleyball Club, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 71
Kudos: 203





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! This is my first fic ever. I hope everyone likes it. I don't have an updating schedule yet, but I'll try to post consistently. :)

“Wait!” Nishinoya shouted at the group. “I forgot my water bottle in the gym”. The first and second years were walking home from practice together. Asahi had left early, and Daichi and Suga had stayed behind to finish cleaning up the gym.

“We’ll go with you” Ennoshita said amiably, “we haven’t gotten too far away yet”.

Tsukkishima rolled his eyes and was about to deny Tanaka’s statement, but he stopped when Yamaguchi stepped on his foot lightly and gave him a look.

“Yeah dude! We wouldn’t want anyone to kidnap you on the way back to the gym” Tanaka shouted, ruffling Noya’s hair.

“Hey! I may be short, but I could still kill a man!”

“Suuuuure” Tanaka smirked.

“If we are going to do this, can we start walking already?” Tsukki drawled. 

Once The group had gotten to the gym, Ennoshita and Tanaka stopped short. They were leading the group, so Hinata, who was barely paying attention talking animatedly with Kageyama, walked straight into Tanaka with a small “oof”.

“Wha-” Hinata started, but Tanaka slapped a hand over his mouth and lifted a finger to his lips with a smirk. The rest of the team looked at them curiously, and Ennoshita pointed through the open window they were standing in front of.

“Oh” Hinata whispered against Tanaka’s hand, which was removed a second later. The first and second years crowded around a window to see Suga with his face buried in Daichi’s shoulder. They couldn’t see Daichi’s face, but Suga seemed to be shaking slightly, ad Daichi was petting his hair gently. The smirk slipped it’s way off of Tanaka’s face, at the same time as the rest of the group tensed.

Was Suga… crying?

Everyone looked to Ennoshita. He looked a little taken aback that he was the one they looked to for leadership when their captain and vice captain were… preoccupied.

“We should leave,” he whispered. “They should have privacy”. They all gave nods and started to turn around when they heard a shaky gasp. Their previous agreement out the window, they all focused again on the third years.

“I’m sorry,” Suga said as he lifted his head from Daichi’s shoulder, who moved his hands from his vice captain's hair to cup his cheeks.

“Hey, look at me” Daichi’s face was solemn. “You know it’s ok to cry, I’ve heard you tell the others. Don't be a hypocrite.”

“I know, I just feel so stupid” Suga glanced up with teary eyes.

“Are you going to tell me what’s up, or do I have to guess?” Daichi attempted at joking.

Suga gave another sigh, less shaky this time. “It’s just, I’m a third year, The vice captain, and I’m not even a starting player. Not only that, but my spot got taken by a first year”. He gave a small smile and self deprecating laugh. 

Everyone turned towards Kageyama, who looked like he might cry. He has never meant to hurt his senpai. Suga hadn't even told him he wasn’t upset about being replaced.

“I-” Kageyama started, but was interrupted by Suga.

“Don’t say anything yet, I know you want to”. He waited until Daichi gave a sharp nod, then continued. “I know he deserves his place, he’s so good it’s kind of scary, but it still hurts. I know it doesn’t really matter. I know I’m probably being dramatic-”

“Hey, don’t do that. If it’s bothering you, it does matter. You aren’t being dramatic”

Suga smiled at that. “It’s just, no matter how hard I work, I’m always second place. I’m trying so hard, Daichi” a new wave of tears hit Suga, and he gripped Daichi’s shoulders. “I watch Kageyama play and I’m caught between being proud of him, and hating… hating myself”

The first and second years at the window looked lost. They’d never seen Suga break down like this. He always seemed to be in control of his emotions, and this was scaring them. Hinata was almost in tears, Kageyama was looking at his shoes, Noya was gripping Tanaka’s arm, Yamaguchi and Ennoshita were frozen with their mouths open, and Tsukki was trying to look unaffected, and was failing miserably.

“Suga,” Daichi said, lifting Suga’s chin. “Do you want me to talk to him? I could get coach Ukai to let you play more?”

Suga jumped away from Daichi, a scandalized look on his face. “Daichi. Get your head out of your ass” he said firmly crossing his arms

No one watching from the windows had heard Suga swear before, and they were all taken by surprise. Suga was a teenage boy, so they probably should’ve expected it, but his nurturing personality had made them forget that he wasn't that much older than them.

“You are not allowed to take Kageyama off the court. He earned his place and you cannot be blinded by your feelings as captain. He is our best shot at making it to Nationals and you know that. I want to keep playing as long as possible, and I’m not letting your hormonal brain stop that”

“Uhhhhh” Nishinoya said eloquently.

“Hey!” Daichi squawked. “Me caring about my boyfriend’s feelings does not mean I’m letting my hormones make my decisions!”

Tanaka slapped a hand over his mouth, and the rest of the group looked at each other with their mouths gaping.

“They’re dating?” Hinata whisper shouted.

“Did they tell anyone or were we just supposed to know?” Yamaguchi asked

“I don’t think they told anyone because I think they don't want anyone to know”

Hinata was about to ask why they wouldn’t want anyone to know, but their attention was drawn to Suga and Daichi again.

“Daichi. You aren’t allowed to abuse your position as captain for me, and that is final.” Suga stared Daichi down from a couple steps away until Daichi let out a defeated sigh.

“I guess you are right. Will you come back over here now?” he made grabby hands in Suga's direction, and Suga walked over, rolling his eyes, but with a small smile etched onto his face. Daichi pulled him into an embrace and said “That’s not all that’s bothering you though, is it?”

“You know it’s not” Suga’s words were muffled by Daichi’s shoulder where he was pressing his face in.

Daichi frowned. “It’s not your fault, you know that, right?”

Suga nodded against his shoulder. “I know it’s not, logically, but it feels like it is. I feel like I deserve it. If that makes sense?”

“It does make sense” Daichi began petting his hair again.

“What are they talking about?” Yamaguchi asked the group.

“No idea” Tanaka responded. 

“Remember when you said you were second best?”

“Yes, Daichi, I do remember two minutes ago”

Daichi flushed embarrassed, but kept going. “Well, you aren’t second best. You can’t rank people like that. You say he’s better, but he just plays differently than you. You are dependable, we can trust you to always make the right call, even if it is the safe option. Kageyama takes risks, and pushes his teammates even if they can’t handle it. He may be the starting setter, but that doesn’t make him better that you”

Suga lifted his head off Daichi’s shoulder and gave him the most love sick smile ever.

“And anyways” Daichi smirked. “He’s failing literature”

“Daichi!” Suga gasped, affronted, but he was holding back laughs.

Kageyama turned bright red, even the tips of his ears and his neck.

“I’ll have to ask him if he wants me to help him out” Suga muttered.

“But seriously, Suga.” Suga looked up into Daichi’s eyes. “Just because they are horrible to you, doesn’t mean you are worth any less”.

“Daichi, they aren’t horrible to me, they just aren’t perfect” Suga looked to the ground, with a look of contemplation and sadness.

“You are too forgiving, Suga” He paused, then asked “Do you want to stay at my house tonight? I’ll text my parents. I can even invite Asahi and Kiyoko over”

Suga looked back up with a sunny smile “sure”. They made to grab their bags from the bench, and that was when The first and second years realized they were about to get found out.

They scrambled away from the window and ran down the road, trying to make as little noise as possible. Once they deemed it far enough, they all stopped under a large tree.

“Who was the ‘They’ They were talking about?” Hinata asked the group at large.

“Whoever it was must be horrible, if they could make Suga san that sad” Noya responded.

“Could it be us?” Yamaguchi asked in a small voice, hunching in on himself,

Everyone looked towards him, with worried faces. All except for Tsukki.

“No, The way Suga san was talking made it sound like they weren’t from volleyball” Tsukki said.  
Everyone visibly relaxed at that.

Back at the gym, Suga walked over to the corner where a forgotten water bottle was lying. “This is Noya’s, isn’t it?”

“Looks like it,” Daichi said, inspecting the bottle. “Take it with you, we can wash it at my house then return it tomorrow”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introducing Asexual Suga, and a little bit of feral Suga.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mean to have Asahi and Kiyoko in this chapter, but I got carried away with the fluff! I promise they'll be in the next one.  
> 

Daichi sent a message to the senior’s group chat with himself, Suga, Asahi, and Kiyoko. The latter two quickly responded saying they could come to Daichi’s house after they had had dinner. Suga and Daichi began the walk back to Daichi’s house in a comfortable silence. Their bags were slung over their shoulders, Noya’s water bottle in Suga’s left hand, and his free hand was connected with Daichi's by their pinkie fingers. Suga’s eyes were still slightly red, but a genuine smile was spread across his face. While his talk with Daichi hadn’t fixed all his problems, he felt better. His insecurities were temporarily restrained.

The walk to Daichi’s house was a familiar one. Since their first year, they had been inseparable, and Suga had spent about as much time at Daichi’s house as his own. They had gotten together about halfway through their first year, which was no surprise to Daichi’s family, who were the only ones to know about their relationship other than Asahi, Kiyoko, and a previous team captain, who had caught them kissing during their first year, and had sworn to silence. 

They liked having their relationship being a secret. It made them feel safe. Safe from gossip, and safe from crushing expectations about what relationships were supposed to look like.

Suga was asexual. The only one to know about it was Daichi. He didn’t see why he should bother coming out to anyone other than Daichi. Why should he have to tell anyone about his sex life? It wasn’t anyone else's business, and the probability of people accepting him was not something he wanted to risk if he didn’t have to. 

His romantic orientation, on the other hand, was something that wasn’t able to be kept secret forever. He was in this relationship for the long haul, and his friends and family would know something was up at some point. 

He and Daichi had talked about coming out to their team many times, but their discussions always ended up inconclusive. They highly doubted the rest of the team was homophobic, considering how close some certain pairs of team mates were, but they were supposed to be the team’s leaders. Would they think it would be unprofessional?

Once they made it to Daichi’s house, Suga stepped through the door the other was holding open for him. 

“Hello?” Daichi called to the house. No one answered. “My parents said they might be late getting home tonight. We’ve got the house to ourselves until Asahi and Kiyoko get here” Daichi smirked.

Suga smirked back. “You know what that means…”

“Cake!” They both shouted at the same time. They collapsed into each other's arms, giggles running through both of them.

“What kind of cake do you want to make?” Daichi asked. It was their tradition to make cake every time they were home alone together. It never turned out perfect, but they tried their best, and were slowly getting better at baking.

“Hmmmmm, Kiyoko likes strawberry, right?”

“Yeah. I’m pretty sure we’ve actually got some strawberries”

They got out all the supplies they needed, and Suga put on his playlist, which started out pretty tame, but progressed into more and more explicit songs ending with WAP and the Yarichin B Club theme. Daichi hated this playlist with a passion, so Suga played it as much as he could when he was around Daichi. 

Suga was shouting along to all of the songs, and Daichi’s ears became more and more red the longer the playlist went on. Once the Yarichin B Club theme came on, Suga completely stopped what he was doing to face Daichi, an evil smirk playing at his lips. Daichi hadn’t heard this one yet.

Daichi furrowed brow. The lyrics seemed pretty tame for Suga’s music taste so far, but it did have a nice beat. Suga got a little bit more excited and danced his way over to Daichi, grasping Daichi’s hands with his frosting covered ones. Daichi made a face at Suga’s sticky hands, and made to pull away, but was distracted when Suga leaned in close to his ear. He whispered a couple lines of the song, Diachi’s face quickly growing red with mortification. He slapped a hand over Suga’s mouth trying to silence him, but Suga kept singing the words, which were now slightly muffled.

He eventually gave up restraining Suga, and let him dance to the vulgar music, rolling his eyes fondly from time to time, as well as freezing at some of the more risque lyrics. Once the song ended Suga collapsed onto the floor laughing. Tears were streaming down his face, but this time they were happy tears. 

“Get up already, don’t make me finish this cake by myself” Daichi said, crossing his arms, but he couldn’t keep the smile off his face. His boyfriend was just too cute.  
Suga stood up and walked over to the sink to wash off his hands alongside Daichi, the residue of the frosting not completely gone. They made their way over to the cake stand, which was holding a beautiful, but very homemade looking strawberry cake. The cake was vanilla, and the frosting was pink and strawberry flavored. 

They just needed to finish decorating. Daichi moved to the side to cut some strawberries for the top of the cake, and he passed the piping bag to Suga, so he could make some rosettes. Suga had the steadier hands out of the two of them, which made sense considering his position as setter. Once he finished the last rosette, he looked back at his work.

“Well, that’s uneven,” he said.

Daichi turned to the cake. “Where? I don’t see any mistakes”

“Oh, I just made seven rosettes instead of eight, I guess it’s not that big of a deal”

Daichi put the strawberries he cut on top of the cake, and wrapped his arms around Suga’s middle from behind. He buried his face in Suga’s fluffy hair, and inhaled the scent of his lavender shampoo. 

“We should clean up and eat something before Asahi and Kiyoko get here” Suga said, not really wanting to disturb the moment, but knowing it couldn’t last forever. Daichi sighed into his neck, then stepped away.

A few minutes later saw them listening to Daichi’s playlist, which consisted of the Beatles, and a couple random songs he had liked sprinkled in, as they cleaned the kitchen. Suga was washing the dishes, humming along to whatever was playing, and Daichi was scrubbing cake batter off the counter tops. Moments like these were some of Suga’s favorites; he loved just existing with Daichi in the most domestic settings. He felt comfortable and loved, and any of the tension from keeping their relationship a secret was absent.

When they decided the kitchen was spotless, they heated up some leftovers, and sat at the table making comfortable small talk. They didn’t feel the need for a deep conversation, and just basked in each other's presence. 

They finished their meal and added their dishes and Noya’s water bottle to the dishwasher and started it. Daichi walked over to the couch, pulled a blanket over his lap, and lifted the corner for Suga to crawl under as well, so they could cuddle waiting for their friends to arrive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think in the comments! And thank you for all the support last chapter. :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asahi and Kiyoko arrive at Daichi's house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the comments and kudos!

There was a knock at the door, and Daichi disentangled himself from Suga, so he could walk over. When he opened the door, he was greeted with a waving Asahi and a slightly smiling Kiyoko.

“Come in” Daichi said, stepping out of their way. By the time they had walked in the house, Suga was standing next to Daichi with a smile on his face.

“So… was there any particular reason you wanted us to come over?” Asahi asked sheepishly, his hand resting on the back of his neck.

“Oh, just some things happened. We can talk about it later.” Suga replied with uncharacteristic nervousness. 

“Did you two bake something?” Kiyoko said, sniffing the air.

“Oh yeah! We made your favorite! Strawberry cake” Suga said with renewed energy. He took ahold of Kiyoko’s wrist and dragged her to the kitchen, Daichi and Asahi following behind.

“Wow, this looks much better than last time”

“Hey! I’ll have you know that me and Daichi worked very hard on this”

“It really does look great” Asahi said, leaning in to get a better look at the decorations.

“You’re just saying that because you want us to continue baking you food” Suga pouted, and Daichi put his hands on Suga’s shoulders.

“We can cut into it now if you guys would like” Daichi said, moving away from Suga to the utensil drawer. He didn’t wait for them to answer, and grabbed a large dull knife. He looked at the cake critically, and looked to Suga, “I don’t like this part. What if I ruin it?”

“Get out of the way you big baby. The point of cutting a cake is to ruin it” Suga said, grabbing the knife, and cutting it in half with no hesitation. “Go grab some plates and forks, please”. 

Their two friends watched the couple bicker, and Kiyoko leaned over to Asahi, pretending to whisper, “They really are married aren’t they”.

Suga turned red, his pale cheeks hiding nothing. “no comment” he said, turning away before the tips of his ears turned scarlet as well.

Daichi said nothing, but looked a little awkward as he set down the plates, staring at his feet and blushing. Suga plopped down four slices of cake, which had gotten a little messed up in the transfer to the plates.

“Hell yeah!” Asahi shouted and grabbed a plate. “Mmmmmmm this is really good” his words were slightly muffled due to the bite of cake still in his mouth.

“Asahi” Daichi gasped. “Jesus can’t swear!”

“Hey, it’s not like hell is really a bad word anyways”

Kiyoko rolled her eyes, but she did have a rare smile on her lips. “That joke is so overused. It’s almost as bad as Suga being the mom”

Suga promptly choked on his mouthful of cake, quickly swallowing before turning his wide eyes to Kiyoko. “What?” he rasped. 

“You haven’t heard the first and second years say that?” Kiyoko said. Asahi was holding back giggles, and Daichi smugly looked at his plate.

“No…? They call me mom?”

“Yeah, it’s quite funny actually. The first time Kageyama kun said it, he looked like he was going to faint. Noya kun and Tanaka kun thought it was hilarious, but then they all started using it”

“Kageyama? Actually that kind of makes sense that he would start it, kid’s super awkward” Suga said grumpily. “They do know I’m only two years older than them, right? I may have grey hair, but I’m not an old man” he said with his hands on his hips.

They all laughed at how grumpy Suga was about his nickname. Asahi was the first to finish his cake, followed quickly by Suga, who had not spoken too much in the conversation, contemplating how he had earned the nickname mom. He didn't think he acted like a mom?

Once all their plates were cleaned and stacked neatly by the sink, they made their way into Daichi’s room. He had a relatively clean room, but there were trinkets packed onto the shelves, and there was very little floor space. Instead of being cluttered, the room seemed comfortable and lived in. Suga loved Daichi’s room; not only was it host to many of his favorite memories, but it was also the polar opposite of his house. Suga’s room was clean, and lacked many possessions. Everything he owned had a purpose, and nothing was flashy or colorful. It could be considered minimalism, but to Suga it just seemed cold and impersonal.

Suga and Kiyoko sat on Daichi’s bed. Kiyoko with her legs tucked neatly under her, and Suga lounging dramatically on the edge of the bed. Daichi took his desk chair after turning it around to face the group, and Asahi leaned up against the bed, sitting on the floor. 

“Soooo, there was something you wanted to talk about?” Asahi said, posing his question to Daichi, but quickly turning to Suga when Daichi looked over at him nervously.

“Oh” Kiyoko said, straightening up. She knew where this conversation was headed.

“Does it have to do with your parents again?” Asahi whispered, just loud enough for all of them to hear. His trademark worried expression slapped onto his face.

Suga sighed, breaking eye contact with his friends to stare at his hands twisting together. “Yeah”

“What happened?” Daichi didn’t know the specifics of the particular thing upsetting his boyfriend currently, but he and the other two third years knew enough about his parents to know it was nothing good.

“They just-” he let out a frustrated breath. “You guys know I barely ever see them” he started. His parents worked at the hospital and had long hours. They never had time for Suga, and they made sure he knew they never wanted kids in the first place. He had practically raised himself. Because they barely saw him grow up, they had no idea how to communicate with him. “Every time I’ve seen them recently, all they tell me is how I should be better. Be better at volleyball, get better grades. I know it’s not even that bad, but I just wish they’d say they were proud of me for once, I’d even take them being completely neutral. I just can’t take the criticism anymore”

“Suga, Stop saying it’s not that bad” Daichi scolded, but it had no bite. 

“Have they said anything about Kageyama?” Kiyoko asked.

“Yeah, that seems to be their favorite topic these days. They stopped coming to our games, y’know. After the first one this year when they saw that Kageyama was the starting setter. Now all they talk about is how they wish they had a son like Kageyama” Suga’s expression had turned nasty and self deprecating.

“That’s awful. I don’t know what I’d do if my parents said something like that” Asahi said, looking at the ceiling.

“Well good thing I’m used to it by now, or I’d probably burst into tears every time I saw Kaegayama. I really am a horrible senpai.”

Kiyoko lightly smacked his arm, and Suga glanced up at her. “You aren't horrible senpai Suga. He looks up to you.”

“Kageyama? No way.”

“He does,” Asahi added. “He sees how much everyone on the team trusts you”

“And he is probably in awe of your good grades” Daichi said with a smug look.

“Stop making fun of his grades Daichi, he’s probably trying very hard” but Suga was already laughing.

“Can we do anything about your parents?” Asahi asked. Every time Suga’s parents were mentioned, one of the other third years would always ask him this, and Suga always had the same answer:

“They pay for my food and home, and I’ll be in college soon anyways. There’s not really a point trying to do anything now”

The others were always upset by this answer, but they couldn’t think of anything to do other than invite Suga to stay at their houses more often. Suga already practically lived at Daichi’s house, and had clothes and other essentials stored around Daichi’s room, so the other two had left that duty to him.

Their conversation turned to lighter topics after that. They usually stayed away from volleyball because they already constantly talked about it during practice and school.

“So….. Asahi?” Suga said with a smirk. Rolling onto his stomach and resting his face in his hands to be able to see Asahi better.

“Uh yeah?” Asahi replied meekly. He didn’t like that expression on Suga’s face.

“How’s Noya?”

“What?” Asahi squeaked out, his face slowly turning maroon.

Suga’s face turned innocent. “Oh I just thought you’d know considering the massive crushes you have on each other that you refuse to do anything about” His face turned evil again when he saw the effect his words had on Asahi. 

“Hahahaha I have no idea what you are talking about, Suga” Asahi tried to play it off. But the others saw right through him and started laughing, much to Asahi’s dismay.

“Come on man, you should ask him out” Daichi tried to control his expression to spare his friend, but he couldn’t keep the grin off his face.

“What if he says no!”

“He’s not going to say no, Asahi. Everyone can tell you have crushes on each others” Kiyoko, the amazing voice of reason, responded calmly.

“But….But-”

“Come on Asahi, we are going to graduate this year. You are running out of time” Suga said encouragingly. 

The mood of the room turned solemn. Daichi let out a slow breath.

“We really are graduating this year, aren’t we”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me what you think about this chapter in the comments! I think next chapter will have the rest of the team, so get ready. ;D


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suga and Daichi love each other, and the first and seconds are acting kind of strange?

Kiyoko and Asahi had left before Daichi’s parents had arrived. Suga and Daichi had decided to quietly work on their homework before going to bed, and Daichi’s mother had enthusiastically greeted Suga when she and her husband had returned home.

Both of Daichi’s parents loved Suga, though his mother was more obvious about it. They had seemingly decided that Suga was The One for their son. What was not to love? He was respectful, responsible with a mischievous side, and balanced out their son perfectly. 

Suga also loved Daichi’s parents. They were more of his parents than his actual parents ever were. They checked up on him, asked him about school, teased him without any bite, and were generally just good people.

Once they had finished their homework. Suga and Daichi searched around his room for some of Suga’s possessions that they needed to get ready for bed, and for school the next day. Once they had dug out pajamas and a school uniform out of Daichi’s closet, they moved to the bathroom.

They brushed their teeth side by side, Suga trying to give Daichi a toothpastey kiss, but Daichi pulled away with a face that made Suga laugh.

They crawled into Daichi’s bed together, facing each other. They smiled before twining their limbs together, and Daichi placed a gentle kiss to Suga’s forehead as Suga curled into his broad chest.

“Goodnight, Suga”

“Night”

In the morning, Daichi got out of bed right as his alarm sounded. Suga grumbled and tried to pull Daichi back into the bed. Daichi just chuckled, and moved out of Suga’s reach.

“You have to get up, sugar”

“Sugar?” Suga opened one of his eyes to give Daichi the best stink eye he could manage.

“Ok, Ok, no cute names in the morning, got it” Daichi said, raising his hands placatingly.

“No cute names ever” Suga said in his grumbly morning voice.

“Tell me that when you’re fully coherent. Now get up. I don’t want to be late” He tried to say in his captain voice, but failing miserably because of Suga’s cute pouting.

“Just a minute”

Daichi rolled his eyes at that, and he moved forward to scoop Suga into his arms, bridal style.

Suga shrieked and clutched at Daichi, now fully awake. He sent another glare Daichi’s way, wiggling in his arms until Daichi was forced to set him down.

When they were walking out the door, holding a piece of toast each, Suga still looked incredibly fatigued. 

“You ok?” Daichi asked, concern dripping from his voice.

“Yeah, just tired-” his sentence was cut off with a long yawn, “it took me a long time to fall asleep last night”. He stuffed the last bit of toast in his mouth, attempting to smile around it. His eyes were closed and he was dragging his feet, tripping every few steps.

“You want me to carry you? We aren’t that far away”

Suga raised an eyebrow at that. 

“It’ll let your rest until we get there, and it can be like my warm up before practice”

“Are you calling me heavy?”

“No! I was just saying-”

Suga laughed lazily. “I was joking. Now let me get on your back, weirdo”

Daichi looked affronted at the name, but stopped anyway. He let Suga crawl onto his back and wrap his arms around his neck before he started walking again. Suga really was too light for his height. 

After a few minutes, Suga fully relaxed in Daichi’s hold. Had he fallen asleep? He really must’ve been tired. Daichi turned his head to look at Suga, whose head was slumped against his shoulder. He smiled slightly at Suga’s slightly open mouth, closed eyes and ruffled hair. He shifted around slightly, so Suga was more secure in his hold.

They seemed to be the last to reach the gym. They weren’t late, but everyone seemed to have decided that they were going to arrive early today.

When Daichi entered with Suga still on his back, Hinata shrieked in surprise.

“Captain!” he shouted.

“Hi?” Daichi said back, confused by Hinata’s astonishment at his appearance.

Everyone seemed to have just noticed Suga draped across his back. Yamaguchi turned away, slightly red, Tanaka and Noya gave excited smiles that Daichi did not trust, and Ennoshita grabbed them by their shirt collars with a sigh and pulled them behind the others.

Daichi looked around at the team, well, most of the team.

“Where’s Asahi? And why is everyone here early?”

Everyone was silent before Ennoshita stepped forward.

“We decided we wanted to set up the gym today because you and Suga do it everyday, and we wanted to help for once”

“Uhhhh Yeah! That’s definitely what we were doing” Noya shouted.

Daichi decided to ignore Noya’s suspicious addition, and he also decided to brush off Tanaka whacking Noya in the back of the head. He didn’t want to know.

“Well that’s very kind of you” He said, walking over to the wall to set Suga down. He gently moved him so he was lying on the ground, with his head resting on Daichi’s school bag.

That was the moment when Takeda sensei and Coach Ukai walked in.

“Hey coach!” Daichi called. “Would it be ok if Suga slept during practice today? He’s super tired”

“Sure. As long as it doesn’t become a common occurrence, I’m fine with it” Ukai responded, looking at the sleeping boy with a hint of concern on his face.

“Thank you, coach” He bent down to give Suga’s hair one last stroke before jogging over to the rest of the team.

They started practice once Asahi had arrived, who was mortified at being the last player to get there. At first, Everyone was trying to be quiet for Suga’s sake, but Daichi told them he slept like a rock, and they could probably hit him with a volleyball and he wouldn’t wake up. After that, they played at their normal volume, yelling across the room, and spiking volleyballs into the ground, and Suga didn’t even stir once.

During a water break at the end of the practice, Daichi made his way over to Suga and gently shook his shoulder. Then shook him more forceful when he did not wake, rolling his eyes.

“What the absolute fuck, Daichi” Suga growled at him. “Go away”

Everyone but Daichi raised their eyebrows. Apparently their resident respectful pretty boy had a mouth on him. Noya, Tanaka, and Hinata all giggled behind their hands.

“There’s no need for that kind of language. Practice is almost over”

“Practice?” Suga mumbled, confusion clear in his voice.

“Yeah, coach said you could sleep”

“Huh,” Suga sat up and looked around the room. “Hello?”

“Hi!” Hinata eagerly shouted back.

Suga winced at the volume of Hinata’s greeting, and rubbed at his hazy eyes.

“Welcome back to the land of the living” Tanaka said, grinning at him.

“Oh, wait!” Suga said, coherence finally coming back to him. “Noya, you left your water bottle here yesterday” He stood up and moved to where Daichi had dropped his stuff off, and pulled the water bottle out. “You usually remember if you’ve forgotten something before you get too far away. Was yesterday a long day or something?”

The first and second years tensed, remembering how they had gone back to get his water bottle, but never actually retrieved the missing item.

“Uh, yeah. Something like that” Noya replied, a hand rubbing at the back of his neck.

Suga walked over and handed Noya his water bottle, ruffling his hair.

“Hey kid, can I talk to you?” Everyone turned to look at Coach Ukai. “Sugawara” he indicted when the teenagers looked confused.

“Yeah sure, coach”

They walked outside the gym together, and Ukai turned to Suga, a concerned look on his face.

“Is something wrong, Sugawara?”

“Nothing's wrong coach. I just didn’t get enough sleep last night is all” Suga gave a very sunny, and very fake smile.

Both of them knew it was a lie, and Ukai gave Suga his best unimpressed look.

“Don’t worry about it, coach. I’ve talked about it with Daichi. I’ll be fine” 

Ukai continued piercing Suga with his gaze before he sighed in defeat. “As long as you’ve talked to someone. But please take care of yourself, kid, we need you at your best if we want to win”

“Yes, coach”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should I write a chapter from the first and second years perspective?  
> As always kudos and comments are greatly appreciated! :D


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how this became a comedy, but it was fun to write. Sorry if you came here for angst. I'll try to get back to that later. :D

Later in the night after the first and second years overheard - eavesdropped on - Suga and Daichi’s conversation, Noya made a group chat of every member of the team but the third years.

He instructed everyone to come to the gym early the next day. There were a few complaints and grumbles about having to wake up earlier, but everyone eventually agreed to come.

The next morning, they were sitting on the court in a circle thirty minutes before Suga and Daichi were supposed to be there to set up the gym. Yamaguchi’s head was resting on Tsukishima’s shoulder, and Hinata and Kageyama looked a second away from falling asleep on the floor.

“Would you care to explain why we had to come here before the sun has even risen?” Ennoshita asked. His words were slightly sharper than normal due to the time.

“Well, I thought we could make a plan” Noya said, tilting his head in confusion at Ennoshita’s question like his answer was obvious.

“Plan?” Yamaguchi mumbled, raising his head from Tsukishima’s shoulder.

“Dude, you are going to have to be more specific,” Tanaka said from where he was sprawled out on the floor.

“Well, isn’t it obvious?”

When he was faced with confused looks and shakes of the head from his teammates, Noya elaborated.

“We need to make a plan to help Suga” He said brightly. Too brightly for the early morning.

“Ooh! Good idea!” Hinata said, perking up.

“But how are we going to do that. We can’t just make his problems disappear magically” Kageama hissed to Hinata grumpily. The other first year’s bubbly mood was annoying him, especially because of his fatigue.

Noya took a breath and opened his mouth to speak, but closed it with a contemplative look.

“You didn’t think this through at all, did you?” Tsukishima smirked.

“Hey! That’s why I called everyone here!” Noya bit back.

“Well, you asked for the wrong people. I don’t think these dumbasses could change a lightbulb, let alone talk about emotions”

“Well, Tsukishima, why don’t you make a plan for us” Tanaka said, raising his eyebrows with a confident grin.

His face pinched in thought. “Well, you could always just be nice to him”

“That’s not good enough!” Hinata shouted.

“Yeah! We need an actual scheme to make Suga happy” Noya agreed, with a conspiratorial face.

“I’m surrounded by idiots” Tsukishima said to Yamaguchi, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Hey!” Tanaka and Noya screeched.

“Am I wrong? Whatever kind of plan you make will end up backfiring”

“We are going to make the best plan, and it’s going to work so well!” Kageyama shouted back, getting fed up with Tsukishima.

“Yeah!” Hinata agreed.

Tsukishima rolled his eyes, and made a ‘go on’ gesture.

“Ok, so I’m thinking that first we need to make sure Suga and Daichi feel comfortable enough to come out to us. Trust is key” Tanaka started. He had stood up, and was acting like a teacher in front of his students.

“Shouldn’t we respect their boundaries? And how would we even do that?” Ennoshita asked.

“Young Ennoshita, you underestimate me,” Tanaka said with his pointer finger up by his face and his other arm behind his back.

Ennoshita’s face clearly said ‘are you serious’, but let Tanaka continue.

“We need to make sure they know we are fine with gay people”

“I really don’t think that’s going to be a problem” Yamaguchi attempted to whisper to Tsukishima, but everyone heard. His face blushed when everyone turned to him.

“What do you mean?” Hinata asked him.

“Uh, well, we are all gay? Except for Tanaka” He phrased it like a question.

“What?” Several voices called out.

“Wait a minute! Are we gay?” Hinata asked the room at large.

“No? I mean, I don’t think so?” Kageyama looked very conflicted.

They all sat in silence for a few seconds.

“Oh my God! We are gay!” Noya hollered. 

“We are?” Ennoshita looked like he had no idea how the conversation had gotten to this point. He was holding himself back from smacking himself on the forehead.

“Is volleyball gay?” Hinata questioned to no one in particular.

“Yes” Noya answered decisively.

This time, Ennoshita actually face palmed. “What even is this conversation?”

Tsukishima shrugged, being the only one who had heard Ennoshita. Everyone else was busy scrutinizing volleyball's sexual orientation.

“Wait! We got off topic! How do we make sure no one thinks we are homophobic?” Tanaka brought the conversation back on track.

“Why don’t you just start talking about how gay volleyball is?” Yamaguchi said, jokingly.

“Good idea!” Hinata responded enthusiastically.

“Please don’t do that” Ennoshita raised his hands, trying to get Hinata to calm down.

“We could start a conversation about gay rights? And then be like, super supportive”

“Noya, that’s a terrible-” Ennoshita was cut off by Tanaka.

“Perfect!”

“Guys, I think you are forgetting one thing” Ennoshita looked so done with everyone.

When several heads were tilted at him like confused puppies, Ennoshita sighed.

“All of you are terrible actors”

He hoped that this would make them rethink the whole plan. He knew it was bound to fail dramatically, but if he told them outright, they would disregard his criticism.

“That’s a good point” Noya stroked a non-existent beard. Ennoshita let out a relieved breath. His relaxation didn’t last long, though.

“I have a good idea!” Hinata grew excited again. “Ennoshita can do it! He seems like he’d be a good actor”

Ennoshita’s eyes bulged out of his head. “No. There's no way I’m doing that”

“I agree with… the dumbass” It looked like it took a lot of effort for Kageyama to get out the words. “I think you have the best chance, Ennoshita san”

There was no way he was getting out of this if Hinata and Kageyama agreed on it. At least he had time to prepare himself.

“Fine. I’ll see what I can do, but all of you know that this isn’t going to fix all of Suga’s problems? It sounds like a lot of it is out of our control”

“That is why we are focusing on the things we can control” Tanaka wrapped an arm around Ennoshita’s shoulders.

“Ok, ok. Let’s set up the gym. We need an excuse to be in here early”

Daichi had eventually arrived with a sleeping Suga, and practice continued as normal, if you disregarded everyone acting suspiciously, and the looks thrown to Ennoshita when the third years and adults weren’t looking.

Ennoshita refused to look back at his teammates when he felt their stares on his back. If he was going to do this, he was going to do it in his own time.

The rest of the day passed in a similar way. Tanaka and Noya were the worst. They would not so subtlety nudge his shoulder when they walked passed Suga and Daichi in the hallway. They purposefully ran into him during afternoon practice, and whispered bad advice on how to start the conversation into his ear.

He would just send them annoyed glances. Today was not the day for this. Suga had obviously not slept well, and he himself was more irritable because of the early meeting he'd been forced to go to.

During the last few minutes of practice, Noya looked like his patience had run out. He faced the rest of the team, and opened his mouth to say something, but Ennoshita slapped a hand over his mouth.

“Be patient” he scolded. Noya looked grumpy, but nodded anyways. They got confused looks from the people who weren’t in on the terrible plan, but none of them said anything.

After practice had finished, Ennoshita’s phone blew up with text messages from the group chat that had apparently been named ‘Operation: Make Suga Happy” when he hadn’t been looking.

All the messages were all different ways of asking why he hadn’t started the conversation yet. He rubbed his eyes. He really should be paid to deal with these idiots.

He sent back a quick text saying he’d do it tomorrow. He wanted to wait more, but knew that if he did, someone with less tact would do it for him.

Time to start planning how to bring up gay rights. How had he gotten here?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I reread this, I thought it was a little unrealistic, but then I remembered the dub exists.
> 
> If you couldn't tell, I love Ennoshita. He's so underrated <3
> 
> Sorry it's been longer than usual since I've posted. I had other idea's for fics that I just had to write. You should check them out if you want, but no pressure if you aren't interested! :D


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been longer than usual since I've posted! My birthday was last week, and my midterms are next week, so I've been pretty busy. <3

Suga was walking back to his house after school. He was dreading the emptiness and silence that he knew would greet him once he stepped through the door. The smile that had been living on his face when he had been walking with Daichi had disappeared once they parted ways.

Daichi had looked like he wanted to invite Suga to his house again, but Suga didn’t want to overstay his welcome, so he had swiftly detached himself from Daichi’s side once they had reached the street where their pathways home diverged.

He missed the warmth of Daichi’s hand in his. His fingers were cold and tingling slightly. The slight breeze made him pull his sleeves down so that they covered his balled up hands.

It wasn’t even that cold outside; the trepidation of walking into his unwelcoming home was making his shiver, and the miserable feeling of seeing Daichi walk away was pestering his heart.

He knew that he would see Daichi, and everyone else he loved, at school tomorrow, but he knew the wait would be lonely. He knew he wouldn’t see another person once he walked through that door until morning when he met up with Daichi to walk to school.

His parents wouldn’t be home.

They never were.

Maybe he should be grateful for that. He wouldn’t be hounded by snide and hurtful comments disguised as helpful criticism tonight.

He put his house key in the lock, and turned it slowly. The click of the lock was satisfying, but didn’t overcome the apprehension of actually stepping onto the cold tile of his home.

The air in his house was still and breathing it in felt like a chore. A very thin layer of dust was settled on all of the counters and shelves Suga didn’t use often. The whole house had an air to it that screamed that it was unlived in, which of course, wasn’t true. 

Suga tried to keep up with cleaning and chores, but it was impossible for him to take care of a whole house by himself, and keep on top of his school and volleyball duties. 

He saw a few hundred yen sitting on the dining table that never had more than one person at it. He knew it was for him even though no note accompanied it.

After years of being left money for him to buy or make himself food, the notes had gotten shorter and shorter until now, when he wasn’t even granted a few words from one of his parents.

He would’ve been satisfied with a sticky note that said ‘Dinner’, but he guessed he should be grateful that he was even given money.

He stuck the money in his pocket to save for his weekly trip to the grocery store, and looked through the fridge. He had enough ingredients to make himself dinner with a few leftovers that he could take as his lunch tomorrow.

He had given up on making food for his parents a few years ago. He didn’t need the physical reminder of a homemade dinner rotting away in the fridge to tell him that his parents weren’t going to try to salvage their relationship.

He sat alone at the table that had three chairs, but only one had any signs of use. He spread his homework across the table, and tried to keep himself from dropping his meal on a page.

He was glad that at least one thing in his life came easy to him. Unlike volleyball, he was never second best. His teachers loved him because he was smart, punctual, and never disrupted class. He sped through his work, every so often checking his phone to see if any of his friends needed help on their own assignments, and sighed in relief when he only had a text from Daichi.

It was a short and sweet text saying that Daichi missed him. Suga rolled his eyes playfully for no one to see, and responded snarkily. They would see each other tomorrow.

He cleaned up the table, and placed his used dishes into the dishwasher. He began cleaning the house the best he could, and flopped onto his bed when he decided it was good enough.

He finally had some free time.

The next morning, Ennoshita was on the verge of freaking out. He was normally a pretty calm guy, but the thought of how horribly wrong the plan could go was making his heart beat faster than normal.

How could he possibly bring up the fact that the team was NOT homophobic without sounding either suspicious or insincere. If this didn’t work out he was going to make Noya and Tanaka pay for pressuring him into this.

He was planning on doing it sometime during morning practice. He just couldn’t deal with the Second Year Idiot Squad pestering him all day again.

He walked into the gym, slightly more energetic than normal because of the adrenaline. He saw the other second years and Hinata giving him encouraging looks while they warmed up which he pointedly ignored.

When they were on a water break, the perfect opportunity arose. Coach Ukai and Takeda sensei had left because they needed to speak with another coach about a possible practice match.

‘Ok, Ennoshita. You can do it’ He thought to himself, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes.

He opened his eyes and straightened up, facing his team. Everyone but the third years knew what was coming and gave him their full attention, and the third years looked at him curiously.

“I’m bisexual” He sadi confidently, then froze.

That was not what he meant to say. 

Noya gasped sharply in surprise, and began coughing loudly when he accidentally inhaled some saliva. Tanka smacked him on the back a few times, but he had the same shocked look on his face as everyone else.

Ennoshita got over his stupor and gave the other first and second years a pointed look. It wasn’t what he planned on doing, but it got the job done. 

“That’s great Ennoshita san!” Hinata shouted, jumping up and down. It was definitely genuine even though his tine was incredibly theatrical. Obviously, the kid needed some acting classes.

“Hell yeah, dude!” Tanaka said, making his way over to slap him on the shoulder. Noya wasn’t that far behind.

“We all support you,” Noya said, reaching up to hit him on the shoulder that Tanaka wasn’t attached to. Everyone who hadn’t spoked yet nodded enthusiastically.

They all then turned to the third years to see how Suga and Daichi would react. Suga had a wide smile on his face, and Daichi, Kiyoko, and Asahi had more tamed smiles on their faces.

Suga walked over, and Tanaka and Noya backed off, giving him room to speak with Ennoshita.

“Thank you for telling us Ennoshita” He wrapped his arms around Ennoshita’s shoulders, and suddenly Ennoshita felt like he was going to cry. He already knew his whole team was going to accept him, but hearing it outloud, even if it was a skit, was validating for him to hear. And, of course, Suga’s hugs were cherished by all.

“If anyone is ever rude to you about it, come to me. I’ll grind their kneecaps into powder and force them to snort it” 

There was some nervous laughter at Suga’s words. The atmosphere was tense as they waited to see if either Suga or Daichi would say something about their relationship.

Suga stepped back from Ennoshita. He looked like he was contemplating something.

Suga never planned to come out to his teammates, but today he was feeling especially impulsive.

“I guess this is the perfect time for me to mention that I’m gay and asexual” 

Hinata made a noise of confusion. “How can you be gay and asexual? I thought that meant you didn’t like anyone”

“You’re mixing up asexual and aromantic, Hinata” Suga said patiently. “Being aromantic means you don’t feel romantic attraction, like going on dates with people. Both asexuality and aromanticism exist on a spectrum, though”

Hinata nodded thoughtfully. “Then what is asexuality?”

“It means you don’t experience sexual attraction. Like when I look at people, I don’t want to have sex with them”

Hinata pulled a face at Suga’s blunt wording, but nodded again.

“You aren’t asexual. Nobody looks at someone and wants to have sex wiht them. That would be super weird” Tanaka butted in.

Everyone turned to him alarmed.

“Uh, Tanaka? I think you might be asexual” Suga said, blinking in surprise.

“No? What you said is like a weird thing people add in movies and stuff. It’s not real” Tanaka responded, eyebrows pinched in confusion.

“Dude, it is real. What are you talking about” Noya looked up at his friend.

Tanaka was about to respond, but Suga cut him off.

“What do you think when you look at Kiyoko?”

Kiyoko looked like she wanted to melt into the floor at that.

“Well, uhh” Tanaka said, looking anywhere but at his teammates or Kiyoko. “I guess I think she’s pretty? And sometimes I- uh, I want to kiss her?”

“But nothing else?” Suga asked, eyebrows raising.

“No?” Tanaka said, now getting anxious.

“Tanaka, from what you have said, I think you are asexual” Suga said gently.

Tanaka was now gripping his short hair with both hands. “But I can’t be asexual! I, like, get hard and stuff!”

Suga slapped a hand over his eyes, and some other team members went a little red. As calmly as he could, he said “Tanaka, I really don’t think anyone wants to hear about that, but for the record, asexuality has nothing to do with libido, only attraction. If you want, we can talk later”

Tanaka looked like he was having a mental breakdown, but eventually said “Yeah, sure. Thanks I guess?”

“You are very welcome,” Suga said with a small smile.

Well that hadn’t gone as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can take asexual Tanaka from my cold, dead hands.
> 
> I hope everyone liked this chapter! Please comment and tell me what you think :D


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't planning on making a flashback chapter, but punkrockpenguin asked for more angst, so here you go. I hope you like it :D
> 
> TW: Homophobia and the words homo and queer used in a derogatory way.

Five Years Earlier

Suga was sitting quietly in class, staring out the window at the raindrops lazily making their way down the pane of glass. His chin was resting in his palm and he was trying his best to pay attention, but the knowledge that he was almost done with class for the day was distracting him. Two droplets of water combined into one, which then raced down the glass, picking up other raindrops on its way.

Suga sighed and turned away from the window when the raindrop had gotten to the bottom of the glass. He looked up to the white board and copied down the homework problems, already planning out when he was going to fit in homework with his chores.

He stares absentmindedly at the clock. The second hand dragged its way around the clock lethargically. Time seemed to be playing tricks on him. Had it really only been seconds since he last glanced at the clock?

All he wanted to do was lay his head on the cool surface of his desk, but he had to at least pretend that he understood what had been going on. He was completely exhausted. The sounds of his parents yelling had kept him up the night before.

It was unusual for his parents to fight if only because they never seemed to see each other, and he saw them even less than that. He remembered the feeling of emptiness in his stomach when he had been lying on his side, staring at his blank walls. He had been unable to tell what they had been fighting about. Their voices had been warped by the distance between them and him, as well as the hand clamped over his ear that wasn’t pressed into his lumpy pillow. It probably wasn’t important and had been blown completely out of proportion. It was probably already completely forgotten by his parents.

Suga hadn’t forgotten, though.

He had whacked himself in the head when the raised voices affected him far too much. He wished he could be completely apathetic, but his shaking hands proved that to be impossible.

“Negativity begone” he had told himself for the first time. 

The minute hand jerked into position. He could finally leave. All the students efficiently packed up their things, and made their way out the door in an orderly fashion.

He smiled slightly when one of his teammates walked up to him. The boy was several inches taller than him as Suga was in his first year of junior high, and the boy was in his last year. The boy had a bright smile that made Suga want to be able to light up a room exactly as his senpai could. The other boy had to scrunch his eyes up because his smile was so wide, and his gums and slightly crooked teeth were showing.

Some of the other boys teased him about his smile, but Suga thought it was perfect. He wanted to smile exactly like that. He wanted to be exactly like his senpai.

But recently, he had been wondering if all of his feelings were admiration, or something else.

He didn’t think he wanted to have the sharp collar bones that poked out of his senpai’s tan skin, so why had he been staring at them?

Sometimes he blushed when he was asked to set for the other boy. He had no jealousy for the others powerful spike; he was perfectly content being a setter.

He didn’t want to be like his senpai.

He just liked him.

Suga pretended nothing was happening when that electric smile was turned on him. He felt warm bubbles flow through his veins, and a blush rise to his cheeks. All the signs pointed toward him liking the other boy, but where was the physical attraction he had heard all about in health class?

He had never wanted to touch anyone like that, and it actually seemed really gross to him. Maybe he didn’t like his senpai like that, but then why did he have the urge to grasp the others' strong hands, and not let go? Why did his hugs feel different from his other teammates?

He pushed those thoughts into the back of his mind to reference later. He had to practice now.

He walked through the building side by side with the boy with the pretty smile, trying to keep his hand from twitching towards the others’.

They stopped when they reached the door of the building. They would have to walk through the rain to the gym.

“Do you have an umbrella, Suga kun?” 

“Uh, no. I’m sorry, senpai” Suga looked at the ground, upset with himself for not being prepared, and disappointing his senpai. He would have to always be prepared in the future. He made a mental note to add an umbrella into his collection of items he could possibly need.

“That’s fine. We’ll just have to run”

Suga looked back up at the boy. His smile was plastered across his face again, and it made Suga smile in return.

His senpai opened the door, motioning for him to go first. He squinted, trying to find the best path to the gym, and took off. He heard the splashes of muddy puddles beside him, and glanced over to see his senpai’s long legs compensating for Suga’s head start.

The boy looked over to Suga, and smirked playfully when he saw Suga’s eyes already on him. He sped up, and looked back, raising his eyebrows in a clear challenge.

Suga let out a small giggle, and attempted to keep up. It was obvious that his senpai was going easy on him, which should have embarrassed him, but only made the bubbles rise through his chest again, amazed at his generosity.

Once they made it under the cover of the overhang to the gym building, they bent over panting and laughing. Their gazes met, and Suga’s world stopped. 

There were small tears of mirth in the corners of the other boys eyes and a small flush of exhaustion was spread across his cheeks. His crooked teeth were on full display, and slight dimples were present on his full cheeks.

The moment was broken when another boy ran under the overhang with his bag above his head to keep as much rain off him as possible. 

The three of them walked to the changing room. Suga politely let the two older boys converse while he walked behind them, listening quietly.

They set their bags on the bench and began stripping. Suga, as he always did, turned away to face the wall while the other boys changed. 

He finished changing before a few more boys walked in. He thought he had timed it correctly, but when he turned back around, he was faced with his senpai without a shirt on. He raised his eyebrows in surprise and felt an embarrassed blush spread across his cheeks.

Even though he didn’t have -those- feelings about his senpai, he still felt dirty for looking at him. The worst thing on his mind was how those wiry arms would feel wrapped around him, and how warm his chest would be, but he still jumped when he glanced up to find eyes staring straight back at him questioningly. 

He was frozen as he and the boy with the amazing smile stared at each other. Suga jumped when he heard someone clear their throat behind him.

“What’s wrong with you? Are you a homo or something?” a voice sounded behind him.

Suga turned to see another third year boy with a disgusted look on his face. His wet shirt was sticking to his chest, and his hair was plastered to his forehead from the rain. 

He felt relieved when he saw that his gaze wasn’t directed at him, but a boy a year older than him who he had barely spoken to before. His relief immediately faded when he saw the terrified expression on the other boy's face.

“No! I-” he protested, but the guilt and alarm gave him away.

“You were looking at me because my shirt’s wet! That’s disgusting, you homo!” The third year had now arranged his body to look more aggressive and intimidating. The second year shrunk back, tears starting to pool in his eyes.

“Wait-”

“No! I should’ve known you were a queer! And you are crying too. A real man would never cry. Get out!” His face twisted, looking like he had tasted something revolting.

When it was clear the second year was paralyzed in place, the third year took an intimidating step towards him.

“I said, GET OUT!” He repeated.

The boy scampered out of the room, leaving behind his bag.

Suga stood frozen, hoping the third year wouldn’t look at him. He had been in luck because the other had stormed into the gym, and began serving the ball with far too much force. The sound of the ball smacking the floor out of bounds was clear, even in the locker room.

The boy with the beautiful smile wasn’t smiling anymore. Suga hoped to see anger at his friend's behavior, or at least empathy for the second year, but all he saw was a matching look of disgust to his fellow third year.

Immediately, all of the warm bubbles popped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I were to make a Haikyuu x The Promised Neverland crossover, would you rather Emma, Norman, and Ray be Hinata, Suga, and Kuroo, or have them as separate characters? I have two different ideas, and I might make both, but what would you rather see first?
> 
> Also, if you haven't seen The Promised Neverland, what are you doing here? Go watch it; it's great <3


	8. Chapter 8

Noya flopped backwards onto Ennoshita’s bedroom floor, groaning and covering his face with his hands.

“Well that was a total failure” he mumbled.

“How was that a failure? I thought it went pretty well” Ennoshita raised his eyebrows.

Noya rolled over onto his stomach, and looked up at Ennoshita.

“They didn’t tell us that they were dating” he whined.

“I think it’s better for them to tell us when they are ready. Pressuring them might make everything worse” Ennoshita explained, holding back an eye roll.

Noya contemplated for a second, then nodded. He pulled himself off the floor, immediately gaining back his normal amount of energy.

“Well, what do we do next?” he asked the group that had walked to Ennoshita’s house after school had ended. The group being Ennoshita, Noya, Tanaka, Hinata, and Kageyama. Tsukishima had decided he wasn’t going to put up with their shenanigans anymore, and Yamaguchi had followed.

Tanaka shrugged absentmindedly at Noya’s question. He was sitting in the corner in deep thought. Ennoshita was surprised he was able to think at all, but his realization that he wasn’t as straight as he thought had brought out all of the evaluation skills he possessed.

“Maybe we should just be really nice to Suga san! Like compliment him and stuff!” Hinata said, his eyebrows scrunched up in thought.

“Could you elaborate?” Ennoshita asked.

“Well, we are doing this because Suga san is sad, so we need to make sure he knows we care about him!”

“I don’t think compliments will fix-” Ennoshita started, but was cut off by Noya.

“Perfect!”

Ennoshita once again felt like face palming, but held back as Noya continued speaking.

“I think we should do that, but we need more information first. Like, have one person gain his trust and then we can find out what exactly is wrong” 

“It sounds like you are plotting to kill him” Ennoshita said, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.

“I wasn’t finished” Noya whined, and Ennoshita motioned for him to continue. “Once we figure out what’s bothering him, we can fix it, then we can all be really nice to him”

“What if it’s a problem we can’t fix? And shouldn’t we be nice to him in general? Not just if… you know” Ennoshita waved his hand around.

Noya put his chin in his palm, trying to figure out a way around Ennoshita’s points.

“There’s no reason we shouldn't try it. If it doesn’t work it’s not like something bad will happen” Hinata said, and Noya immediately lit up.

“Exactly!” he shouted and turned back to Ennoshita, who was realizing they were going to go with this stupid plan no matter how flawed it was.

“Do whatever you want, but I’m not going to do the work this time” he said, crossing his arms sternly.

“But me and Shoyou are bad at acting like you said, and Tanaka is having a mental breakdown. Who’s going to do it?” Noya said, waving his arms frantically.

They all thought for a few seconds. Hinata gasped, and a large grin spread across his lips.

“Kageyama can do it!” he shouted.

“That’s a terrible idea” Ennoshita said.

“No, no. His only mode is awkward, so Suga san won’t be suspicious if he’s acting really weird” Hinata explained.

“Hey! You dumbass!” Kageyama grabbed the front of Hinata’s shirt.

“Wait, that’s a really good idea!” Noya said, excitedly.

“I hate to admit it, but Kageyama is probably the best person to do this” Ennoshita agreed.

“Wait! I can’t do that! You all know I’m terrible at talking to people” Kageyama said far too loudly. His back was stiff, and his arms were stick-straight at his sides.

“That’s exactly why we chose you to do it” Noya said, smacking him on the back, trying to be encouraging, but Kageyama only paled further.

Kageyama was standing stiffly on Suga’s porch, too nervous to knock. It was a terrible coincidence that his senpai had asked him if he would like some help with his schoolwork the day after they had decided on the second stage of their plan. It had been right after practice, when he had been planning on trying to get Suga alone anyways, but he hadn’t been able to get a word in before he was invited to the other’s house.

He had obviously agreed, relieved that he didn’t have to do the work to be able to talk to Suga alone, and now he might even be able to get his grades up.

As he was standing on the porch, he was regretting every decision that brought him here. He didn’t have a plan for how to do this. He didn’t really understand what he was supposed to be doing anyways. He now wished he hadn’t completely ignored the advice from Noya, Ennoshita, and Hinata, even if it was completely useless except some things from Ennoshita.

He wanted to turn back, and pretend he forgot, but he knew he’d just have to do it later. It was better to just get it over with. He brought a trembling hand up to the door, and rapped his knuckles on the hard wood. The sound was sharp and clear, but it wasn’t enough to bring Kageyama out of the whirlpool of his mind.

The door swung open, and Kageyama looked up. He hadn’t even been aware that he had been glaring at his shoes until he had to lift his chin to look at Suga. The bright smile aimed at him made the anxiety flowing through his veins dissipate faster than his and Hinata’s quick attack.

What had he been worried about? Everything would be fine because he was with his amazing senpai.

He gave Suga his best smile, which was rather terrifying, but Suga didn’t mention it. Kageyama followed him into the house as he was invited in. It was a rather barren house, and the lack of color or personalization made it seem rather cold and uninviting. The complete opposite of Suga.

They set up on a low table, spreading Kageyama’s work across it. Suga began organizing the paper into piles, and writing down some things that Kageyama couldn’t see on a separate sheet. Suga didn’t attempt to make small talk, which Kageyama was immensely grateful for. 

He took the time Suga took to shuffle his papers around to glance around the room they were in. The artificial lighting was bright white, and hurt his eyes, but wasn’t strong enough to actually light up the entire room. It seemed like someone had designed this house to appear normal at first glance, but wasn’t actually lived in, like a movie set.

Suga pushed a paper in front of Kageyama, drawing his eyes back to the table. He sighed internally. The paper in front of him was a test he had failed, and Suga had written out all the steps to solve all the problems he had missed.

“So” Suga started.

Kageyama looked up, expecting to get a verbal explanation of how to do the first problem on the test, but paled as the anxiety he had before walking in came rushing back due to the words that came out of Suga’s mouth.

“Are you going to tell me why everyone is acting strangely?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve updated this! I kind of lost inspiration for this, and I got put on antidepressants which have been making me super tired and nauseous. I’ll try to update more often :D
> 
> I’ve loosely planned out the rest of this, but if there’s something you want me do do in this, tell me in the comments! I’ll try to add your suggestions, but again, I have this planned out so if it doesn’t work with what I have planned, I won’t be able to add it :(
> 
> Thank you for reading <3

**Author's Note:**

> Please tell me what you think in the comments, or notify me of any mistakes. Constructive criticism is always welcome!


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